Price of trust
by Lilithakaducky
Summary: Sequel to 'Price of a friend'. Shun and Hyoga are back in Tokio, but their welcome isn't what they expected. Hyoga will have to face worse than he thought losing his Cosmo would cost. Still no slash but lots of angst
1. Chapter 1

_So, here it is. The sequel to 'price of a friend', 'price of trust'. Hope you all like it._

_Note: Don't get mad, because I say some rather disturbing things about God in the beginning of this fic. I don't mean to bring any ones faith or religion down._

_Since I never read the Hades chapter. I'll simply ignore it. This fic is taking place sometime after Poseidon and just after my other fic 'Price of a friend'._

_Ther'll be some cursing and violence in this fic._

_Betaed by the wonderful Kittyluv. _

**PRICE OF TRUST**

_Chapter 1_

Hyoga woke from the speaker's announcement that the plane was about to land in ten minutes.

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his uninjured right hand and chased the last bit of tiredness from his body with a heavy sigh.

Turning his head to the side, he gazed at Shun who had been supposed to wake him some time ago. But one look at his friend showed him the reason why the younger Saint had failed to do so. Shun was slumped in his seat, sound asleep.

Hyoga cursed silently. He really had wanted to talk to Shun about what had happened, and how he had lost his Cosmo before he came to Russia. His friend's belief that Athena had temporarily taken away his Cosmo was not right. Far from it. It had been himself, who had acted against her orders or even knowledge. He had put his emotions above his duty and had given up being a Saint to save his best friend.

Athena would be all but thrilled by that, Hyoga supposed, and he would have liked to prepare Shun before they returned to the mansion. He wasn't too eager to face her and receive the reproach he was sure to get, but he hoped she would understand his actions, even if she did not approve of them. Especially if he told her about the old lady and that Shun had indeed been in danger from Natasha. Maybe there was a way he could yet be of some use to her some way or another. He still had his fighting skills and knowledge of a saint he could pass on to somebody else.

And who knew. Maybe, if he trained very hard, he could regain or rebuild his own Cosmo in the years to come. His sensei Crystal had taught him that a Cosmo lay within every human being. Part of ones soul. That had been the reason why he felt so hollow inside, since his Cosmo was gone.

The old woman had, by his own wishes, ripped a deep wound in his spirit.

Even now, after he had had some time to adjust, he still felt the emptiness and the lonely, cold feeling inside. Not even the warmth in the plane's cabin could help get rid of that, even if he had physically recovered from the bone-deep cold in his body from wandering three days through the snow covered woods with Shun. Hyoga knew that he shouldn't complain. He hadn't lost any toes or fingers and gotten nothing more than some pain from the cold. Every normal human being would not be so lucky, but he naturally had a higher resistance to the chill since he grew up in the endless snowfields of Siberia. For a few hours, he could tolerate low temperatures easy enough, even without Cosmo.

But walking in the cold, wet snow for three cold days and even more freezing nights, keeping guard in turns with Shun, had nearly been too much.

It would have been, hadn't his friend heated the air around him on the last night. It was the second time he had helped him this way. He owed him. Burning a Cosmo for so long was exhausting but Shun had done it without a second thought. The Andromeda Saint was too kind-hearted to only sit by, letting him get frostbite or worse if there was a way to do anything about it.

His gaze softened as he looked at his best friend and a slight smile played around his lips. Shun had a big heart. He hated to inflict pain and kill with his powers as a Saint. He preferred to help others rather than fight them. Hyoga didn't have those scruples killing an enemy; as long as it was not one of the people he loved. _Not that that has ever been a cause to stop me killing my adversary, mind you, _Hyoga thought with a good bit of bitterness.

Would Shun be able to kill a loved one to save a greater good? Perhaps he would. Shun had a sense of love for all people. So in one sense, he killed someone he felt compassion for with every enemy he ever fought. He simply was unable to hate anybody enough to wish his or her death and killing always hurt him more than he ever let on.

Hyoga could sympathize with this side of Shun to some extend. He had felt the same while he had been forced to fight his sensei Crystal, Aquarius Camus and Isaac. He didn't want to kill them. They were family, and he couldn't handle losing more of his family. Hyoga didn't make friends easily. He just wasn't like Seiya, who could get along with anybody naturally. He had always been quiet and only joked around with people he trusted. He had been hurt and left alone too many times by people he cared for, so he tried not to care about too many people anymore. Athena and his brothers were the only ones he considered his family now. And he only had few friends, like Milo or Freya.

Other than that, he tried not to care too much about others, what sometimes proved to be quite difficult. All ice-Saints were supposed to be cold in their feelings, but he could not do that. Once he considered someone his friend or family, he could not detach himself anymore. He just didn't understand how he was supposed to simply switch off his feelings towards another, like Camus had told him to do in the Libra-temple. Maybe it was for the best that he was no Saint anymore. Ikki had said it a couple of weeks before. He was a danger to all close to him.

He pulled himself from those thoughts. It was always a dangerous route to take and he had bigger worries ahead of himself, to afford sinking into the past. He straightened and put the seat in an upright position, before he reached over and slightly shook Shun's shoulder.

"Hey, Shun."

The green haired Saint stirred and blinked a few times sleepily.

"Time to wake up. We are about to land," the Russian said softly.

Shun sat up straight yawning widely. "What, already?"

Hyoga chuckled "Still tired?"

Shun smiled at him. "I didn't even know I was tired until I fell asleep."

The announcement to put the seats in the upright position, stop smoking and fasten the seatbelts interrupted them. They reached for the belts, fastening them, which took Hyoga some fumbling before he managed one-handed. He winced as he made a sudden move and hit his broken limb against the armrest of the seat.

Shun looked at him worriedly. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Hyoga said with an apologizing half-grin. "I just should try not using that arm to beat up plane seats until a doctor puts a real splint or cast around it."

Shun smiled back. Hyoga didn't fool himself. He knew Shun and was certain that his friend would make sure he went to the hospital as soon as possible to get the arm looked at. The Russian medic had re-bandaged it and taken off the rugs, which Shun had bound around it, but the arm needed to be set by somebody with the right equipment.

"How do we get home?" the Andromeda Saint asked, changing the topic for now. "I don't have any money for a taxi. You?"

"Niet. Not even any change for a bus. We can try to hitchhike. The way we look, somebody will surely have pity on us."

"Or they will run away screaming," Shun smirked.

"I only regret that I didn't get to explain everything yet," Hyoga sighed.

"Well, as you said, nobody died. I will get to know everything soon enough, don't worry about it, okay?"

Hyoga nodded, but he had a bad feeling about it all.

stsstsstsstsstsstsstssts

Saori was walking trough the small forest beside the house, thinking. Tatsumi followed her silently a few meters behind, not interrupting her thoughts. She stopped by a tree, which wore a small hole at eye high. A mark from Shun's chain, when she had been attacked from Bud at the beginning of the war against Asgard. She touched the mark lightly with the tips of her fingers.

It had actually been only a little over a year, since they had come out of the war against Asgard's warriors and Poseidon and his marinas after that. Still, it seemed to her that an eternity had passed since then.

Saori hadn't slept much last night after the unexpected visit she had had. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't like it at all. The five bronze-Saints were very important to her after all. They had become so much more than merely her defenders in the last couple of years. Especially Seiya. He intrigued her and even though she would never admit it, she felt very attracted to his wild easy-going nature.

But she worried about all of them. She knew that it was not right for Athena to be so attached to her warriors. She was a Goddess and their only purpose was to protect her and help maintaining the peace on earth.

But Athena had reincarnated in the body of a simple mortal girl. She knew that she had treated the Saints badly at first, but they had forgiven and gone through hell for her.

She closed her eyes, cursing Athena and her duty towards mankind. For it may doom one of her Saints, one of her friends, today.

She heard somebody approach from behind. Letting her hand fall to her side, she turned slowly to see her remaining three Saints come through the woods.

Saori had expected them to find her, wanting to talk about their further actions in finding and rescuing Shun. She was not ready for the coming argument, but there was no putting it off unfortunately.

"Have you talked to Russia again?" Ikki greeted her.

She nodded.

"And? Will she let him go?" he asked.

Saori lowered her head for a minute, before she met his gaze. "No. She won't. And there is no help from the Russian Authorities either, as long as we don't have any more proof."

"But what are we gonna do now?" Seiya asked. "We searched like mad and haven't found the slightest trace of any bomb."

"Searching further will be in vain. We don't know where they are and we will never find them all. And if we do, we won't know it, since we don't know their number." Shiryu added.

Saori sighed. "There is nothing we _can_ do, I'm afraid."

Ikki narrowed his eyes, a dangerous spark springing to life in them. "What do you mean to say by that?"

"Simply that there is no way I will risk another war or the cost of innocent lives for one of my Saints." She answered in a stern voice, holding Ikki's gaze, waiting for the explosion.

She didn't have to wait for long.

"WHAT!! You plan on giving up Shun just like that?" Ikki spat. He raised his fist and waved it threateningly in front of his face. "I don't give a damn about you being a Goddess or about it being Shun's duty to protect those lives. He is my brother. I don't even know those "innocent" people you are talking about. I kept still long enough. I will go get my brother out. Whether you like it or not."

Seiya stepped in front of Saori, facing the older Saint. "Stop it right there Ikki. You don't know what you're saying."

"Oh I know perfectly well what I'm saying!" he hissed with a sneer. "I say, that I will go get my brother out. I will not abandon him!"

"Athena is right as you know perfectly well," Shiryu tried to reason. "We will not abandon Shun. There simply is nothing we can do for the moment. We have to think about something else." He put a hand on Ikki's shoulder in a calming manner. But Ikki shrugged the hand off.

"I've waited long enough. You haven't had any ideas so far, and you won't find any if we wait any longer! Find the bombs or don't find them, I don't care, but I will go and get my brother. And I will kill anyone who gets in my way!"

Seiya took one step towards him, narrowing his eyes and clenching his fist. "Are you challenging me?"

"If you try to stop me, you will have to bear the consequences," Ikki replied, a fire in his eyes, which easily matched Seiya's.

They stood like this for a moment, starring one at another in a silent battle of will. They were only seconds before going off one at the other, as a cheery voice made them freeze in shock.

"If your only problem is the location of the bombs. I may be able to help you."

Like in slow motion, all eyes went to the source of the well-known voice. Shun was standing beside a tree, leaning his left shoulder against its trunk, beaming at them.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

_Many thanks to Kittyluv for her great betaing job_

Chapter 2

"Shun?" Ikki whispered in disbelief. Then, with delay born from surprise he caught his bearings and freed himself from his shock. "SHUN!" he shouted, went to his brother and took him in a tight hug. "Oh Gods, thanks," he whispered. Then he held him at arms length, looking him over. "Are you all right?"

Seiya and Shiryu came closer too, staring at the youngest Saint in surprise. "Shun? How...what..? Seiya started, before a huge grin stole upon his features and he practically grasped the green haired boy from Ikki to give him a bear hug himself. Shiryu smiled happily. "Great to see you, Shun. We have been worried about you."

Ikki scrutinized his brother closely. He felt unreal. There was joy about seeing his brother, worry for his health, relief that nearly stole his breath and fear to ever again face the pain he had felt upon losing his little brother. "How are you?" he asked, while he tried to stare the truth out of Shun. Or at least prevent him from lying, should that infernal woman have hurt him.

Shun laughed. "Happy to be out of Natasha's company, but I'm fine, don't worry." He was laughing, even though his eyes were moist with unshed tears. Ikki relaxed slightly. Shun was obviously alright and all too happy to be back. He had never been very good at hiding even his most basic feelings. Ikki had better success in holding back the stinging tears of joy. Well, at least he thought so.

"What happened? How did you escape, and what about the bombs?" Saori asked with narrowed eyes. "By the way. It is good to see you."

Ikki couldn't believe his ears. He balled his fists and did his best to stay calm. He had his brother back, that was all that really counted in the end. Still, he couldn't hold back his thoughts from forming. "Getting your priorities right, aren't you?" he mumbled under his breath.

Seiya threw him a scanting look, but said nothing.

If Saori had heard his comment, she didn't react on it. Shun ignored it as well. He probably didn't mind her choice of words. Shun almost never read anything bad in other people. Still it bothered Ikki somewhat as his brother turned to her and answered with a gentle smile. "It was actually quite easy to escape once Hyoga disarmed the bombs… "

"Hyoga?" Seiya interrupted. "Did you just say Hyoga?"

Shun nodded and looked over to the spot he had come out of the woods.

Only now did they see the second figure standing there, half hidden by the shadows. Hyoga stepped forward a couple of steps until he stood in the light. Saori and the Saints just stared mutely at the Russian. Of course, Ikki recognized him right away, just like the others certainly did, but he, like them was more than startled by his new hair color and short hair.

Ikki blinked twice. So Hyoga had indeed gone to get Shun out. But how? Natasha had said that she would know the moment somebody would penetrate her lands with a developed Cosmo. How had Hyoga gone around it?

"What have you done?" he heard Saori's barely controlled, angry whisper behind him. He turned around and saw her look at Hyoga with hard eyes. What was her problem now? He didn't think she would be so upset about him cutting and dying his hair. Not that it was her business anyway. Hyoga had rescued Shun, and none of the bombs had exploded in the process. So what was she mad about?

Hyoga seemed to know what she meant, because he was looking at her with a painful expression. "I'm sorry Athena. But there was no other way to get him out."

"What? What are you two talking about?" Shun asked perplexed. " Why are you all acting so surprised? Hyoga, you said, that Saori sent you."

Hyoga looked over at his friend, smiling painfully. "No Shun. You assumed that it was the case. I just didn't contradict you. I acted alone. This was, what I had wanted to talk about in the plane."

"I'm mad at you, because you disobeyed me." Saori spoke again. "But that is something minor, which could be forgiven, since you got Shun back, but what you have done besides that is unforgivable. You have betrayed me and any Saint worthy of his name."

Hyoga's only reaction was lowering his eyes to the ground in front of his feet.

"Saori? What are you talking about?" Seiya asked with a frown.

"Reach out to his Cosmo," Athena said with an icy voice.

Seiya exchanged a short look with Shiryu before they reached out with their Cosmo, only to get no answering vibration from Hyoga's. "What is the meaning of this?" Seiya asked.

"I thought it was not possible to hide a Cosmo?" Shiryu added. His face showed an unmovable certitude. Ikki had to agree that he, more than anyone, would have known if there were a way to do that. But then the dragon Saint's eyes grew wide and he stiffened as if a terrible suspicion had started to form in his head.

"There is none." Saori said. "But there is a legend that a Cosmo can be destroyed. But it is forbidden to do that, except on the orders from Athena herself. And never for any personal reasons. Because there is no way to restore a Cosmo once destroyed."

Ikki gasped upon hearing this. He would never have thought that Hyoga would have done anything like that. He had given up being a Saint and betrayed Athena for his brother and for their friendship? He felt a sting in his heart. 'Oh Hyoga,' he thought. 'What have you done?'

"Saint Hyoga," Athena said with high head and stern voice. "You have given up your Cosmo for your personal feelings. This is unforgivable. You have acted upon your own emotions before and it was and it is unworthy for any Saint to do so. You have a duty to fulfill. An oath you took upon your cloth. I can not tolerate your latest actions, and risk the well being of the people I'm supposed to protect with such a liability as you are. You have become a Saint for personal reasons, and your being a Saint will end for personal reasons.

"You are a disgrace.

"You could have failed and killed thousands of innocent people. People, which should be your higher priority than your friends. You are a traitor to Athena and you know the sentence for that crime."

Hyoga looked up at her sharply. There were unshed tears in his eyes but he only nodded. Ikki stared at her in horror, his expression mirrored by the other three boys. They all knew about the way traitors were treated. They knew about the Cap in Greece, which had seen the death of hundreds of warriors in Athena's service, being found culpable of being a traitor. Without Cosmo, Hyoga had no chance to survive the prison there. People with Cosmo had succumbed to the high tide before.

No, she wouldn't do that. Hyoga had done it all for Shun, for God's sake. Ikki wouldn't have hesitated to do the same, had he known about it.

He would not let her do that to Hyoga, and if he had to revolt against her to protect him, he would do that. One look at his brother's tear-streaked face and pain-filled eyes, staring at the Russian, was proof enough to know that Shun would not tolerate it either.

Seiya's eyes wandered from Athena to Hyoga and back. He seemed just as startled as Ikki himself. Not that he could blame him. They had done so much for Athena. Sacrificed everything for her cause, especially Hyoga, and now she was sentencing him to death? Looking at the dragon Saint, Ikki saw him close his eyes and clench his fists, hard. He didn't like what she was saying as much as they did.

"I will not forget what you have done so far, and how much you have helped me before, so I will let you live," Athena continued. "But you will leave this house and never ever come back to the Sanctuary either. I will give out order to kill you at sight, the moment you try to penetrate there. Also will you not return to your training grounds. These lands are property of the Sanctuary and will be off limits for you from now on. From this moment on, you will cease to exist for me and for the others. If you ever come close to any of us, you will be killed instantly.

"Tatsumi," She addressed the big man by her side. "I want you to clean out Hyoga's room. Burn and destroy everything. Erase his existence."

"As you wish, Miss Kido," he said. His voice was neutral, but in his eyes laid a predatory, satisfied look. Of course, that brute would only too happily comply her orders. He never made a secret out of the fact that he hated all the Saints. Ikki watched Tatsumi turn to carry out his orders.

stsstsstsstssts

Hyoga was completely overwhelmed by shock. He hadn't expected such hateful words. He had known that he would be scolded, but her words were harder than he had expected.

She was sending him away. She called him a traitor. He felt his surroundings start to spin and a nauseous feeling cramped his stomach. He fought it and looked at his friends. Shiryu had his eyes closed, but his hands were clenched in tight fists, trembling slightly, obviously trying to control his anger, Seiya looked at him with wide eyes, shocked. Ikki's gaze went from Athena to him. Fury burning like fire in them. But what broke his heart completely was Shun's tear stricken face, looking at him with a mixture of shocked resentment and pity. "How could you do that?" the Andromeda Saint whispered almost inaudible. Almost.

His friends thought like Athena. They resented him. He realized with a start that it was over. Everything. Athena was right. He had risked the life of thousands because of his feelings. He felt as if somebody had slammed a knife in his heart and was taking a great pleasure twisting it. His betrayal had cost him all he had left on this planet. His friends.

He turned around without any further word and hurried as fast as he could out of the small forest to the entrance of the mansion, with unshed tears troubling his vision.

stsstsstsstssts

Shun watched his friend turn around and leave. He took a step to follow him, but Athena's voice held him back. "Shun. Stay here. Nobody will follow him."

Ikki turned towards her, fuming. " What the hell do you think you're doing sending him away. This is _Hyoga_ whose life you just destroyed. Have you forgotten what he has done for you in the past."

"No Ikki. I haven't. And that's the only reason why he will live. For the crime he committed he should deserve death."

Ikki snorted. "The only _crime_ he committed is saving my brother. I don't consider that a bad thing, as you seem to do."

"I don't understand either Athena," Seiya addressed her. "I thought that we meant something to you. We fought for you. We died for you. How can you do something like this?" Seiya tried hard to stay calm, but wasn't doing a very good job. He usually showed his feelings openly. Right now, he showed nothing but betrayal by Athena. Something, Shun knew, was exactly mirrored in his own eyes. Okay, Hyoga had acted against her will, but it had worked. Why had she been so cruel to him? Giving up his Cosmo must have been hard for him, and punishment enough.

Athena was not acting as he would have expected she would in such a situation. He had a bad feeling about it all. Her treatment of Hyoga resembled the way Saori had treated them as kids and when they had first come back with the cloths. He didn't like it at all.

"I don't have to justify my actions but I will do it so you'll understand. Of course I'm happy that Shun is back. But the way Hyoga went about it was wrong. He has endangered innocent people and he has betrayed his duty as a Saint. Hyoga has always been too emotional and mentally weak. A ticking time bomb. I have a responsibility towards mankind and I can't let my personal feelings endanger this duty. Neither can any Saint. Hyoga would put your safety above anything else, and I can't let that happen.

"I rarely order anything but now I order you to stay put here. Don't talk to him. At least not for a while until he has rebuilt his life. You would be no help to him."

With that she turned around and walked away, following the direction Tatsumi had taken.

The others looked after her. "Sounds more like an excuse than a explanation, if you ask me," Ikki grumbled.

"This is all my fault," Shun whispered.

Ikki swirled around, facing his brother. "What are you talking about?"

Shun looked up at him, tears still flowing down his face. "He did it to save me. If I had not been kidnapped, all this would never have happened."

"Don't ever say anything like this again," Ikki said in a stern voice. "First of all, it is not your fault that that crazy woman kidnapped you, and what Hyoga did, he did out of his free will. He knew what he did and what consequences may come of it."

Shun's face only darkened more at his brother's words. "Did you see the look on his face? He was devastated. She shouldn't have treated him so hard. He doesn't deserve it."

Seiya nodded. "I agree with you there. I don't like disobeying Athena, but since I used to do that all the time as a kid she should know that I would. Let's go catch up with Hyoga and talk to him. At least he'll know that he has our support. "

They all nodded in agreement and walked off in the direction Hyoga had gone.

When they reached the Gate of the estate, Hyoga had already disappeared.

"What now?" asked Seiya.

"We don't know where he went," answered Shiryu. "There is no use searching for him. He could be anywhere. I'm sure he will find a way to contact one of us. He will probably show up at Seiya's place, since he has no other place to go."

Seiya nodded. "I better go there, so I'll be home when he arrives."

"I would like to come with you, Seiya." Shun said hopefully.

Ikki laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Athena forbid us to talk to him. She will get suspicious if you leave with Seiya."

Seiya nodded. "You look tired Shun. You need some rest yourself. And you have to let Saori know the locations of the bombs, since you said you know where they are. I will let Hyoga stay with me for the time being. Come to me tomorrow morning, then we can talk it over and see what we can do."

"I hope you all know that you're disobeying Athena's orders by helping Hyoga." Shiryu threw in.

"You have anything against it?" Ikki asked defiantly.

"No, I only wanted to make sure everybody knew the consequences. Athena has been acting out of character and I'm a little nervous about it."

Seiya nodded again. "My thoughts exactly. Something is happening here. Something we have no clue about. And I don't like it at all. We'd better stay on our guard, that's for sure."

T.B.C


	3. Chapter 3

_I'd like to send all my Thanks to Kittyluv for her great and fast Betaing job and of course all those wonderful reviewers : Fred, smily, FireChan9490, MimiYamatoForever, subaru1999, Allpheratz, Aresa. And to those who added me or the fic to their faves: Andromeda Saku. NaylaS5, Miaceves, YaoiLover56, smily90, Subaru1999, MimiYamatoForever, Eros1, Allpheratz, Zi-ling,_

_You guys are the Best._

_Chapter 3_

Hyoga had walked for hours without caring where he went. His tears had long since stopped. No matter how much he tried to direct his thoughts somewhere else more productive, like what to do now, they were like a mosquito that was will-lessly attracted to the light, over and over again pulled back to the looks Saori and his friends had thrown at him..

He was alone from now on. The last of his family, albeit an unorthodox one, was gone. Worse than dead because that's what he was to their eyes. Dead and forgotten. Part of him said that it wasn't important as long as his loss meant Shun's safety, but he could not keep from thinking about Athena's words, couldn't keep guilt from rearing its ugly head. No matter how much it hurt to admit, she had been right. He had endangered innocent lives. What if he had failed? What if Natasha had found him out? Thousands could have died. He would have provoked a tragedy. What gave him the right to do that? He had indeed betrayed everything a Saint was supposed to be and the more he thought about it, the more he had to conclude that he lost his right to be one of them for good reason.

Maybe it would have been better indeed, had he died in the house of Libra, or better still in Siberia, instead of Isaac. Isaac had told him that he was not made to be a Saint. Why didn't he listen back then? It would have spared many people a lot of grief.

A deep rumbling sound of not so distant thunder ripped him from his thoughts. He raised his head to the sky and saw that thick clouds had pulled together and transformed the blue of the horizon into dark gray.

'Just wonderful', he thought. 'That's all I need. Rain.' Just as he finished the thought, the first lonely drop of rain landed on his face, followed soon by one friend, and another and another…. Hyoga only now realized the drop of temperature since he had faced Athena in the forest, a now seemingly unbelievable long time ago. The rain began to pick up in intensity and drove the cold into his skin with each droplet of water and Hyoga just knew that, with his current luck, the temperature would drop still further in the next few minutes. The temperature itself was not too bad. Nothing compared to the chilly temperatures of Russia but Hyoga knew that, should he get soaked before he found shelter, he would be in for an uncomfortable night.

Which drove the thought home that he had no place to go to. His bank account was empty and he was certain he could no longer use his credit card. Athena had been all but unclear of his new status. And to make things worse, his broken wrist started to throb painfully again. He had used the last of the pain pills from Sergey at the airport and so had no choice but to suck it up.

Besides, there were more urgent problems at hand anyway. He knew that he needed to get a job as soon as possible to get through on his own, without the Foundation. He also knew that there was only one person he could think of who could help him until he got back on his own feet, so he walked off in direction of the part of town where the old woman lived. He hadn't gone more than a few blocks until the sky finally opened its lock and the rain poured down in all its force. Hyoga saw the other pedestrians pull the rim of their coats over their heads and hurry for shelter. He just lowered his head and walked ahead.

By the time he had reached the shop of the old lady, Hyoga was soaked to the bones and shivering. He walked up to the glass door only to find it locked.

With a muttered word of frustration he moved close to the window, trying to make out anything through the glass door, but didn't even see a flicker of light. He let his head fall forward in resignation, turned around and let his back hit the glass, before he slid down to the wet, cold gravel.

With new awakened weariness, he watched the drops, which fell from his soaked bangs. He would not find any shelter here. If the old lady didn't let him in now, she would not do so later. He didn't know how, but Hyoga was certain that she knew about the events, which had happened and the only reason she was not helping him now, was because she must have been unhappy with something he had done. He sighed. Another door that was closing in front of him.

It was as if the whole world had conspired against him. Hyoga felt the cold rain trickle from his collar down his back and shivered, pulling the already wet coat closer around him. Not that it did much good. He was only pressing already soaked through material against his skin. On top of it, the pain in his hand wandered unhindered up his arm, pulsing in tandem to the beat of his heart. Feeling cold, in pain and terribly tired, he knew that he would have to find some shelter if he didn't want to catch a bad cold in this weather. But where could he go now? The Kido mansion was out of question, as well as Seiya's apartment. Athena had made sure to let him know that he was not welcome anymore and the looks of the other Saints had told him that they shared her opinion of him. Hyoga was not the type to go beg them for forgiveness either. Especially not when he could see their decision's rightfulness so clearly, himself. They had had every right to act the way they had done.

He was a traitor and could be happy that he was still free and not on the way to Cape Sunion.

No, he would never bother them again.

Neither had he the means to pay for any hotel, before he didn't get a job and money. He would have to find one tomorrow, to get a first paycheck by the end of the week or so. Then he would be able to pay for a cheap room and support himself. He had only to get through this first week somehow. Any other minor worry, like treatment for his hand was out of question anyway, since it was far beyond his ability to afford. The injury was nothing lethal and it would mend on its own in time.

Calling Kavolsky and asking his help had come to his mind already, but the Russian had paid his dept and owed him nothing anymore. It was no use hoping on help. Hyoga could rely only on himself, he knew.

The young Russian sighed and looked ahead into the gray downpour, blinking the water from his eyes, unable to tell if all of the moisture troubling his sight had come from the sky. Feeling drawn out even more than the loss of his Cosmo had made him feel, he felt the first tell tale signs of hopelessness creep up on him and the sting in his heart and eyes had returned with a vengeance.

Hyoga tried to pull himself together, knowing that he had to get out of the rain, but he felt too worn to even get up. At this point he didn't even really care if he would catch a cold, or get pneumonia.

In the end he still managed to get to his feet, when the cold and wetness bothered him too much. He walked towards the port where he hoped to find some temporary shelter in one of the abandoned warehouses.

When Hyoga finally reached the deserted docks, the sun had already set, rendering the man made surroundings into a gloomy twilight which made him feel the cold even more. The air near the ocean was always fresher than in the City. But he supposed that most of the cold he felt was not from the weather but from within himself.

It was hard to believe that it had been only this morning, when he had still been sitting in the heated cabin of the first class flight from Russia. Hyoga had the impression that he hadn't felt warm and dry for an eternity.

He met nobody as he looked out for a warehouse, which would serve his purposes just fine. Nobody in their right mind was out in this weather if there was a way to avoid it. Hyoga was grateful for that. The workers and proprietors of the warehouses and ships didn't take it well when the occasional homeless and criminal came here to spend the night. Which was also the reason why all the warehouses were locked, empty or not.

But he knew of one, abandoned since very long ago, which had some of its windows broken and thus leaving him a way to enter.

That was of course, if the warehouse still stood. As he approached the old, decayed part of the port, Hyoga stopped at one of the ship landing places.

It was in bad shape. Worse even than he remembered. The dock was dirty, full of carelessly thrown out litter, the metal of the docking rings slowly being eaten away by rust. It was obvious that this dock hadn't been used in many years. Hyoga's thoughts wandered back to the last time he had been here.

It had been shortly after he had been brought to the Kido-mansion. Six weeks after his mother had died.

After his mother's death and his and the sailor's rescue from the small side boat, they had been brought directly to Tokyo, the origin of the sunken ship and the homeport of the sailors. Hyoga had been brought to an orphanage and had stayed there for about a week. His mother had told him that she planned to visit his father, whom he had never before seen in his life. Since it had been him who had paid for the ship-fare, the company, which had owned the ship knew who to contact about the Russian boy.

The people in the orphanage had at first tried to talk to him, but he had been too lost and afraid, so he hadn't answered. They had finally given up, assuming that he didn't understand the language and was not worth the trouble to try to talk to. To him it had all been too overwhelming and strange, the shock still deep in his young soul and he had not yet gotten used to the thought that his gentle mama would not come back to take him away from those people with impatient gestures and nervous voices.

That week at the orphanage had been one of the worst of his life. The people looking after the orphans ignored or yelled at him and the other kids made fun at his expense, mocking him. Especially one of them took a great pleasure insulting him, whenever he could. It was an irony that it was this boy who would turn out to be one of his brothers.

When Kido's men had shown up to get the two boys, Hyoga felt a flicker of hope that he hadn't lost everything yet. But instead of a loving father, he met an old man, who looked him over with cold interest but no emotions. His last hope of a halfway happy life had been shattered the moment his gaze met his father's dark eyes. He hadn't talked then either. The other boy, Jabu had talked enough for them both, trying hard to impress the old man. Hyoga knew that that was not possible. Never would the old man care about them as a father, the way his mama had cared. He had instinctively felt that he would not find any love with his father.

But after a few days at the mansion, he would have been happy if all he would have gotten was indifference.

Jabu had easily found friends among the other boys there, and they found it a rather interesting pass-time to make Hyoga's life hard. They were after the gajin, whenever they could, calling him names and pushing him around. He never complained or fought back. They too did think he didn't understand them, but he did perfectly understand Japanese. His mama had taught it to him from a very early age on. But he simply didn't want anything to do with the others. They didn't interest him the least.

But his indifference made them even angrier and they found every opportunity mocking him. The only time he got some respite, was when they went after Shun who was even more fun to mock, since they managed to make him cry every time. But they only approached Shun as long as his older brother was not around. All the kids had a healthy respect of the oldest boy, who had already beaten more than one of the others, coming too close to his brother. Hyoga had soon realized that most of the boys ignored the fact that they were Kido's sons and all half-brothers. And he didn't care either. They might be his siblings by default of birth, but they were not his family. The only family he had ever known had drown in a ship in the sea of Siberia. Because of some Japanese sailors who had doomed her to die.

He felt the anger at them dwell up in him again. He had felt so wrong, being at the mansion and in Japan. He wanted to go back to his mama. Back to Russia where people laughed a lot and were not as strict as here. In Russia he had been happy. In Russia lay his mama.

The only human being who had ever been gentle to him.

The only one who had ever shown him love.

So, one day he had run away.

Hyoga had asked his way to the docks where the ships embarked for Russia. He had found the old warehouse and stayed there for the night. And he had overheard people talking about a ship, which would leave for Siberia the following day.

The next morning, he went back to the dock, determined to sneak on board unnoticed, but while he had laid all his attention on the ship, he had run into somebody's legs. A tall somebody. Looking up, his heart had missed a beat out of surprise and fear. He was looking into Tatsumi's black, cold eyes. He had never found out how they had been able to catch him so fast. Tatsumi had gripped him by the back of his neck and dragged him to the waiting Limousine which brought him back to the Kido-mansion and his punishment.

It had been the first time in his life he had been beaten.

Tatsumi had pushed him in the middle of the other children in the garden and beat him up with a wooden stick until his back was a bloody mess and he lay in tears on the ground.

He hadn't cried out of the pain in his body, but the pain in his soul.

He had never run away again.

Hyoga's thoughts came back to the present.

He tore his gaze from the port and walked in the direction of the old warehouse. He permitted himself a sigh of relief when he saw it appear in front of him, sided by some other buildings.

It was still standing, but in even worse shape than he remembered. Almost all windows were shattered now and part of the ceiling appeared to have collapsed.

Hyoga walked to the front door and saw a white sign on it. He read it without real interest:

**_WARNING:_**

_DANGER OF FALLING OBJECTS._

_ANY TRESPASSING IS PROHIBITED_

Hyoga didn't waste a thought about the sign and went around the corner of the building to one of the windows, which had lost all its glass. The lower rim of the window frame was at eye level, so he stepped closer, grabbed the rim with his good hand, bent his knees a little and jumped up, pulling his weight with his arm all the way up, until he was leaning with his upper body inside the building. He swung his legs up and over the rim, letting his body fall down on the other side, landing on his feet. He winced from the pain in his hand as it was jolted on impact but dismissed the pain fast, looking around, taking in the surrounding.

The warehouse was dirty and it was not much warmer than outside, thanks to the broken windows, letting the wind whistle through the interior. The roof and walls made a groaning sound under the onslaught of the storm and rain. But at least it was dry here and most of the biting wind was kept out.

And anyway, Hyoga didn't care much about the whole warehouse being at risk to collapse any minute over him. It would only solve his problems once and for all.

He searched for a more or less clean spot to spend the night and found an old, mold infested, rotting carbon in one of the corners, pretty much away from the worst of the draft. Obviously, someone had used the warehouse for a shelter before him. He lay down on the carbon on his side, using his healthy arm as a pillow and resting his broken limp in front of him, making himself as comfortable as possible.

His arm had become pure agony again and he still felt chilled to the bones, but it didn't take more than a couple of minutes for his exhaustion to catch up with him and make him fall asleep.

T.B.C.


	4. Chapter 4

_My Thanks go to the wonderful Kittyluv nd her overall awesomeness as a Betareader._

_also a big great thank you to Aresa and Kaila for your reviews_

_You guys are the Best._

_Chapter 4_

Seiya sat on the edge of his bed, his eyes wandering the umpteenth time over to the clock on his nightstand, while he was fisting the hem of the bed linen in his hands. Two o'clock and still no sign of Hyoga. He had waited for hours for his friend, way until after midnight before he had finally given up, kicked off his shoes and gone to bed.

But rest wouldn't come. Three minutes and thirty-four seconds and a staring contest with the digital digits of his clock later, he had sat up again at the edge of the mattress, before lying down again. This resulted in him pacing his room not five minutes later. Since then he had done nothing but alternating between waiting, pacing and cursing, rendering himself into a nervous wreck. Seiya was worried. More than he dared to admit to himself. Of course, he knew that Hyoga could take care of himself even without Cosmo, but he also knew how emotionally vulnerable the Russian could be. Saori's words must have been devastating to him and the fact that the rest of them hadn't had the chance to make it right afterwards, made it even worse. He threw the linen down, stood and walked the short distance to the big window of his bedroom, looking out into the rain.

'Damn it Hyoga where the hell are you?' Seiya fought the urge to go to the front door to look if perhaps the Russian stood there, just missing the courage to ring the bell.

He had done that four times already. There was no sense in Hyoga coming here and not ring that bell anyway.

Had he found somewhere else to spend the night? Didn't the he think his friends would worry about him? He could at least give a call. Seya bit his lower lip. They had all been too shocked to react initially but what if Hyoga, in fact _didn't_ know they worried, that they cared? Was the Russian mentally so insecure that he would think they'd agree with Saori?

Seiya balled his fist. That was ridiculous. They've been through too much together to doubt their friendship now. For _any_ reason, whatsoever. Which left only one solution, he tried to convince himself. Hyoga was angry at them, all of them and was simply brooding somewhere to lick his wounds and plan his next move.

Seiya went back to his bed and let himself fall on it. "Okay Hyoga," he said to the ceiling above him, "if you wanna stay somewhere else tonight, fine be that way. I won't stay awake the whole night, waiting if you may or may not come here." He let himself fall onto his bed and pulled the cover over him, turning to face the wall.

It was then that a thought invaded his mind that he hadn't allowed entrance before. They've been through too much with Saori to think she'd banish and destroy one of them. For _any_ reason, whatsoever.

The Pegasus Saint didn't sleep well that night, startling awake from every little sound.

**************************

_"You are a traitor!"_

_"A traitor to any saint worth his name! A traitor towards Athena." _

_Saori8 0s face was full of disgust and hate and soon to be joined by Ikki's._

_"You should have died in the Libra-house. You would have done the world a favor. All you ever did was get your friends killed."_

_Isaac appeared next. "You had me killed, me and your sensei. You wore that cloth for personal reasons. You have always been too sensible and fragile to be a saint."_

_Jabu's face joined them now. "You stupid gaijin don't belong here."_

_"How could you do that?" Shun's face was full of hurt and tears._

_"You are a liability, a disgrace," Saori spoke again._

_"You are less than nothing. I will teach you your place." Tatsumi's voice boomed above all the other angry faces._

Hyoga bolted upright, panting heavily.

'A nightmare,' he thought. 'Just a nightmare'. He lay back down again, shivering. Turning to his side, he pulled his legs close to his body for warmth. Only a nightmare and still the truth.

Everybody knew it. Had probably known it for a long time that he would fail. Only he himself had not seen it until now. He looked up at one of the windows where the morning light colored the bit of gray sky visible from his location on the ground. His clothes were still slightly damp and felt icy against his skin every time he moved. His arm still hurt and he didn't feel at all like getting up. But he had no choice. He badly needed to get a job. If he got lucky with his new boss, he might be able to get an advance and spend the next night in a motel room. At the moment, however, he longed for a hot shower even more than for a bed.

Hyoga fought the weariness that seemed to have attached itself to his bones and pushed himself up on his feet. He shuddered again as damp clo thing rubbed against his body whenever he moved. It would take some movement to get even the resemblance of being warm again.

He walked to the window, getting out the same way he had come in the previous day.

Once outside, he made his way to the part of the port where the workers had already begun to load the ships. He stopped one of them by putting his hand on the man's arm.

"Excuse me, could you tell me, where I can find your boss?"

The man looked him up and down with a disgusted look in his eyes, freeing his arm with a jerk. He frowned, but then nodd ed towards one of the buildings.

"Thank you," Hyoga sighed and walked towards the indicated building without showing any reaction on the man's repulsed behavior towards him. He knew that he looked bad. He was damp, dirty and his clothes too had seen better days. He just hoped that his appearance would not scare off his eventual future employer.

Stopping in front of the wooden door Hyoga took a minute to straighten his clothing and hair as much as possible. Only then did he knock on the door.

He heard a muffled, gruff "Yeah?" opened the door and stepped in. The small office held only one tall armoire and a huge wooden desk. Behind which sat a tall, overweight man with curly black hair and beard. The man had his concentration on something he was writing on a legal pad on his desk and didn't acknowledge him at first. When he did look up to see the newcomer he raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What dog dragged you in here boy?" he said with an amused tone.

"I came to look for a job," Hyoga answered.

"A job, huh? I don't think you'll find the kind of job you are looking for here. We need men, who can work hard. No kids."

"I am no kid." Hyoga defended himself. "And I can do hard work."

The big man leaned back in his chair, looking him over carefully. "Maybe. But you are still too young to do this kind of work."

Hyoga sighed. This was happening quite often that they were considered kids. Especially Seiya had a hard time with that, since he was rather short build. People often judged him younger than he was and he complained about it regularly. It drove him nuts when people treated him like a kid. He who had saved earth more than once already. Of course, he had been only thirteen the first time he had fought with them against the Kyoko and the Gold Saints. But they all had seen and done things which had made them grow faster than their years.

"What's wrong with your hand?" The man asked, indicating the wrapped and splint arm with his chin.

"Nothing bad. It won't keep me from working. I'm used to hard work. I'm stronger than I look.

If you don't believe me, I can show you, " Hyoga tried to change the subject from his broken wrist. "I really need this job."

Hyoga hoped to sound convincing enough, rather than desperate, which would reflect his mood much better. He really needed this job, badly. And he was starting to be sick and tired that nothing seemed to work in his favor right now.

The man behind the desk looked at him intently for a couple of minutes, before he nodded.

"Alright. You get a job. Under one condition," he finally said, standing up.

Hyoga watched warily as the man came over and stopped one step in front of him. Then the man reached forward with a speed that belied his size and held onto Hyoga's broken wrist. Taken aback by the sudden pain, the Russian gasped, taking a step backwards.

"Not bad, Huh?" the man said with a frown. "Well, I don't believe that. I would say it is badly sprained, if not broken. I give you the job but only after your hand has healed, understood?"

Hyoga's hope sank. "I need the job now. I can't wait."

The older man looked at him with a stern, but not unkind expression. "You should go back to your folks, boy. Running away from home is never a solution, no matter how bad it may seem at the moment."

Hyoga's shoulders slumped. The guy thought he was a runaway. He realized that he would not find any help here. Resigned, he turned and left the office without any further word.

*****************

The man watched him leave. He felt sorry for the lad, and played with the thought of calling him back. He could at least offer him something to eat and a place to sleep, for it was obvious, the boy had no place to stay. But if he did that, the youngster might not find the provocation to go home to his family, so he let it be.

*****************

Shun woke late mid morning, feeling more rested and secure than he had in ages. He had talked to his brother and Shiryu until late last night, telling them what had happened while he was gone.

He deliberately left out some details, like Natasha abusing him. He might be able to talk to his brother about it some day, but not yet. Maybe never. His brother would go berserk if he knew and Shun felt the shame, hot and sharp at the thought of him, or anyone knowing. Talking to Hyoga had already helped a lot when it had still been fresh. He was glad that he had opened up in the end. It had been hard, but also kind of freeing. That didn't mean that he wasn't at least as much anxious to avoid the topic to any of the others. Even his beloved brother. Especially his brother, he thought, while biting his lower lip.

He was impatient to go see Hyoga and talk to him. He needed to thank his friend, and at the same time let him know that he would stand by his side, no matter what and return the favor, having the other boy's back. He had been shocked about what Hyoga had done for him, willing to give up everything, but Athena's reaction had even been the bigger shock. She hadn't acted like herself and he and the others would keep an eye on her. They didn't want a repetition of the Asgard war. Of course they didn't impose that she was possessed by some evil force, but they just didn't want to take any risk.

And he had told the police the location of the five bombs. They had found them the same day. Once found, it was rather easy to disarm them for good.

After he got dressed and ready for the day Shun went to the window in his room, opening it.

He stepped out on the balcony and inhaled the fresh morning air with a deep satisfied breath. His room was located at the first floor of the big Kido-mansion as were the others of the saints. But only his and Hyoga's had a balcony.

Ikki was never here to care about it and Shiryu preferred meditating in the wide open. As for Seiya. He had never wanted to stay here and got himself an apartment from the beginning. It was ironic that Athena's most devoted warrior was also the most independent.

A waft of wind drove the biting odor of smoke in his direction and he looked around. He saw Tatsumi throwing something small into a fire on the lawn. It took him a moment to understand what he was doing before he suddenly remembered Athena's orders the previous day and he felt a deep hurt in his heart. So she had really gone through with her threat to burn Hyoga's things. Thank God that Hyoga didn't have much personal stuff except for some books, which could be replaced easily enough. And all the photos he had possessed were photos of them all, of which copies could be made. He just hoped that she would not destroy the things h e had left in Siberia. He had more personal stuff over there he had told him once.

But suddenly, and with a feel of foreboding he recalled a conversation he had had with Hyoga, while they had eaten at the Russian airport. Hyoga had told him that he had dyed and cut his hair to not give himself away. He had even left his rosary home in his Nightstand, just in case.

"Oh Tatsumi, please not the rosary," he whispered to himself.

He didn't even close the window before he hurried over to Hyoga's room, pulling open the door in haste and stepping in. He stopped dead in his tracks. The room was blank. Nothing remained of his friend. There was still the same furniture, but no photos on the dresser or books in the shelf. The room was impersonal and cold. He hadn't expected that20the few items Hyoga had kept here had been enough to make this room lived in and warm. It was as if Hyoga's essence had vanished.

He shook off the strange sensation and sat on the edge of the bed, whose sheets had been taken off as well. Shun reached to the drawer of the nightstand, pulling it open with shaking fingers. He feared what he would find, or better said not find, but in his heart he hoped that Tatsumi had forgotten this drawer.

He hoped in vain. The drawer was as empty as the whole room. The rosary and everything else Hyoga had kept in there was gone. Destroyed by the fire outside.

Shun lowered his hands in his lap, feeling hot tears of frustration in his eyes. This rosary had been the most precious thing in the world for Hyoga. How could Tatsumi do that? How could Athena order something so cruel? She could have at least let him get his stuff, before she chased him away.

He didn't know how to tell Hyoga, when he saw him later on, that the cross from his mother was no more.

******************************

Saori observed how Tatsumi burned the last of the books. She felt tears well up in her eyes but fought them before they could fall. She had had a bad night, Hyoga's pained and resigned eyes after she had hurt him so much with her words had haunted her dreams. She felt like a bitch and she would have wanted to call him back and tell hi m that she hadn't meant what she had said, but she couldn't. Her first priority had to be the people on this planet and not her Saints. Even though this responsibility hurt a lot sometimes. She only hoped that he would go see Seiya and get help and comfort from his friends since she was incapable to do so. They ignored that she knew why Seiya had left so suddenly yesterday. And why she was sure the others would find an excuse to leave as soon as possible as well. Athena had forbidden them to see Hyoga as it had been her duty, but Saori hoped that they would do so. She would keep on the facade and be as detached as the Goddess of Wisdom was supposed to be and she would keep up her duty as protector of the humans but she would gladly look the other way, when they disobeyed her this time.

*************************

T.B.C.


End file.
